Departmental Requirements
Students majoring in Biology with the General/Pre-Physical Therapy/Pre-Allied Health track must complete a total of 120 credit hours of University courses. This includes a minimum of 42 semester hours of General Education Requirements, 25 semester hours of Departmental Core courses, 15 semester hours of program electives, 23 semester hours of Supportive courses and 15 semester hours of free electives.
Students in this track should consider taking Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II, with laboratory – BIOL 231 , BIOL 232 , BIOL 233 & BIOL 234 as free electives in this track. They are required for admission by Pharmacy Programs, and by most Physical Therapy Programs, by Nursing Programs and many other allied health professional programs. However, they do not apply toward the B.S. degree in Biology and hence are not included among the required courses given below.
Objective
The General/Pre-Physical Therapy/Pre-Allied Health track provides broad preparation for students intending to pursue a science related career or to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in a variety of allied health fields including PharmD, PA, PT, nursing, etc. In addition to a core of science, students interested in science and business should complete a minor in business; students interested in science writing should complete a minor in English or Communications, etc. Students interested in allied health fields should familiarize themselves with the admission requirements of post-baccalaureate programs of their choice and work with their academic advisor to ensure that appropriate courses are chosen as electives.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of this program will be prepared for entry into the PharmD and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs at UMES and for admission to other allied health post-baccalaureate programs at other institutions of their choice. Also, biologists can pursue a biomedical or graduate degree for entrance into a specialized area of medicine, dentistry, academia, research or consulting careers. Three resources for career opportunities are the following websites: Sciencecareers.sciencemag.org covers all sciences while www.aibs.org/careers covers all areas of biology and https://explorehealthcareers.org/field/allied-health-professions/ covers allied health fields.
The specific courses taken in the undergraduate program are generally chosen based on the goals of the student for their future career.